Uncoupling device for cars.



A. E..0STRANDER.

uNcouPLlNG DEVICE FOR CARS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. I7. ISIO'.

1,140,706. Patented May 25,1915.

l l @l j I ATTORNEY nieuwe.

UTE STATES PATET FFICE.

ALLEN EDWARD OSTRANDER, OF RIDGEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 AMERICAN OAR ANI) FOUNDRY COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

UNCOUPLING DEVICE FOR CARS.

Athat the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof will occur to persons skilled in the art.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a side elovational view of the end portion of a car showing my uncoupling device applied thereto, a portion of said figure being shown in section. Fig.` 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the plane of line 2 2 of Fig. 1, parts of said view being broken away to permit of the enlargement of the essential features of the invention. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the plane of line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail modification of the end portion of one of the operating shafts, and Fig. 5 is a detail modification of one of the shaft supporting bearings. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the bearing casting. Y

My invention relates to improvements in uncoupling devices for railroad cars, and particularly to that class of such devices Vwhich employ an operating shaft journaled at the end of the car and extending from side to side thereof, having at eaohend a suitable operating handle and a radial arm or uncoupling lever projecting from approximately the middle ofv the length thereof for engaging the locking pin of the coupler. I am aware that it is'old to divide this operating shaft at the point of its connection with the uncoupling lever and to connect saidlever with the two sections of the said shaft in such manner as to facilitate the operation of the lever by one of the sections of the shaft without disturbing the position of the other of said sections, but the particular feature of the present invention is to enable a ready and convenient removal of any of the parts of the device Patented May 25, 1915.

Application ledrNovembe-r 17, 1910. Serial No. 592,928.

and particularly for enabling disconnection of either section of the shaft from the central radial arm or uncoupling lever without destroying the connection between said lever and the other section of the shaft by vsimply manipulating the operating shaft to an abnormal position.

Referring to the drawings, 1 1, are the usual draft sills; 2, the side sill or sills and 3, the end sill of the car structure; A bracket, or support, 4 is arranged between the opposing faces of the draft sills l just behind the end sill 3 and is formed with depending flanges riveted to the said draft sills. VA supported bracket or casting 5 is fixed to the upper surface of said bracket 4 at approximately the middle thereof and `said casting is formed with spaced upstanding apertured arms, or journal bearings, 6-6, the apertures 7-7 of which are alined transversely of the car. Fixed to the outer face of the side sills 2 are journal castings 8, which castings are obviously duplicated upon opposite sides of the car with the apertures 9 arranged in alinement with the apertures 7 7 of the bracket casting 5.

The operating shaft is divided at approximately its middle, forming the two sections 10A-10a. The adjoining ends of the two sections occupy a position midway between the opposing faces of the upstanding arms The sections are journaled respectively in the apertures 7 and 9 of the arms 6 and castings 8 and extend through suitable apertures 8a formed in the sills 1 and 2. The ends ofeach of the sections, beyond the castings 8, are bent radially so as to form the usual operating handles 11.

At points spaced from the inner ends of each of the sections diametrically oppositely projecting radial fingers 12-12 are formed and that portion of each 0f the shafts which extends beyond the fingers is received in a journal portion 13 of the substantially hollow hub 14 of the uncoupling lever 15. The main body portion of the hub 14 z'. e., the external hub shell ext-ends from the inner face of one of the arms 6 to the inner .face of the other arm 6, leaving only necessary operating clearance. The journal portion 13 is somewhat shorter than the main body portion of the hub so as to provide recesses or pockets in said lever for the fingers 12 which occupy positions `between said journal portion and the inner VConnected by a suitable chain to the usual locking pin of the coupler. Reverse rotation of theshaft is positively prevented by a stop as 17, preferably formed Vintegral with the journal casting 8 and projecting into the path of travel of the operating varm 11.

Rotation of the shaft 10a will cause the 4fingers 12 at the end thereof to engage the adjacent shoulders 16 in the hub of the un- 'coupling lever and swing said lever upwardly. The shoulders 16 upon the opposite side of the hub will simply move away from the fingers 12 of the shaft 10 without imparting any movement whatever to said shaft.

The aperture 7 in each of the arms 6 is formed with diainetrically oppositely disposed radial slots 18. These slots are arranged in such position as to be normally out of alinement with the fingers 12 on the operating shaft so long as connection is maintained between the locking pin of the coupler and the end of the lever 15. I have indicated by a line X (Fig. 1 -of the drawings) the extent of the upward movement of the arm 15 during ordinary manipulation of the device in uncoupling. This position cannot be exceeded while connection is maintained with the locking pin as described, and it will be obvious thatv when in this position the fingers 12 of the operating shaft will not have rotated suffi ciently to be carried into alinement with the slots 18.

I have indicated by line Y the position to which it is necessary to raise the arm 15 in order to bring the fingers in alinement with these slots. In this position the fingers may be passed through the slotsV and the shaft may be readily withdrawn from its connection with the arm 15. When both of the shafts have been removed in this manner the uncoupling lever may be removed and replaced without the necessity of disengaging or removing the casting 5.

In the principal figures of the drawings the fingers 12 are illustrated as being pressed from the material of the shaft itself.

quires not necessarily in the same radial position These fingers may be formed byAV a pin as 19 projectingthrough a suitable aperture on the shaft as illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings. V

Since it isrthe bracket uncoupling lever 15 or the casting 5 which usually requires renewal, and since the removal of the inner ends 0f the operating shafts from the arms 6 is all that is necessary to permit of the removal of the lever or the casting, it is seldom necessary to entirely withdraw they sections of the operating shaft from the side sills of the car, but it is Within the scope of my invention to provide the apertures 9 in the castings 8, upon the side sills, with radial slots as 9 (see Fig. 5) through which the` fingers 12 may be passed and the shaft withdrawn when occasion re- The slots 9ajin the casting 8 are as the slots in the arms 6 for, once the fingers 12 are freed fromv the shoulders 16, the operating shaft may be rotated to a position to accommodate itself to slots of any position.

What I claim is:

1. In an uncoupling device, a support, a pair of spaced journal members -oii said support, one of said members comprising ay pair of upstanding arms, each having a key hole slot therein, an uncoupling lever having a hub fitting between said arms and centered thereby,ra shaft supported said journal members and forming a bearing for said hub, a lever actuating nger carried by said shaft within said hub insertible through said key hole slots, whereby said shaft may be moved to permit said lever to be dismounted without displacing said shaft from said support.' j Y 2. In combination, side sills `and draft sills having alined perforations, a support between said draft sills, a bracket having two upstanding Yspaced arms carried on said support, an uncoupling lever positioned between said arms and provided with a journal portion and a pocket, a rockable operating shaft mounted in some of said perforations and extending through said pocket into said journal portion, and co-acting radial extensions projecting from said lever and shaft in said pocket adapted to actuate the lever during rocking of said shaft.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

ALLEN EDWARD OSTRANDER. Witnesses: Y g

' L. GUsroRD HANDRE,`

FRANxV. COOPER.

' C'opies o1' this patent may be obtained for ve cents each; .by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

